Bradford City presentation

Bradford City Odds

As with all League One sides, Bradford City betting odds some of the more popular English football betting odds. With the inconsistencies in the performances of League One sides from one season to the next, odds on Bradford City to win League One are just as commonly bet on as Bradford City relegation odds.

In big matches, such as West Yorkshire derby games, there can be a variety of bookmaker promotions on offer. For example, odds on Bradford City v Leeds United can be subject to bookmaker enhanced odds or in-play betting offers, such as bet365’s regular in-play offers.

As well as odds on Bradford City’s on the pitch activities, there are also a wide range of Bradford City odds on situations that can happen off the pitch, such as transfer odds or Bradford City manager odds.

History

Bradford City AFC are a professional football club located in West Yorkshire, England. During Bradford City history, the club have played in all four professional England divisions for at least one season. Bradford City currently play in the English third tier, the English Football League One.

The history of Bradford City begins in 1903. The club were founded after an editor in a local newspaper called the Bradford Observer met with representatives from the Football Association and local rugby league team Manningham F.C. The Football Association were looking for a football club to be founded in West Yorkshire to build popularity of the sport in that particular area of England, which at the time was dominated by rugby league. Bradford City were formed, and took the colours and stadium of Manningham. They were then awarded a place in the Football League Second Division.

Bradford City AFC gained supporters immediately, and having enjoyed stable mid table Second Division finishes, they won the title in the 1907/1908 season. Their first season in the First Division almost ended in relegation, but the club survived and maintained their top flight status.

In the 1910/1911 season, Bradford City won their first major piece of silverware. Playing Newcastle United, Bradford won the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory in the replay.

Bradford City continued in the First Division until relegation hit the club in the 1921/1922 season. The club struggled to adapt to life back in the second tier and a further relegation occurred in the 1926/1927 season and Bradford City found themselves in the Third Division North.

Promotion back to the Second Division two seasons later was achieved, but the club once again struggled in the English second tier. In the 1936/1937 season, Bradford City once again suffered relegation back to the Third Division North.

The Football League calendar was suspended for the duration of the Second World War. When the Football League resumed, Bradford City continued to struggle in the Third Division North, finishing in the lower half of the table in consecutive seasons until the 1955/1956 campaign. Three top half finishes followed, and Bradford were given a spot in the newly formed Third Division rather than the Fourth Division, these leagues replacing the Third Division North and South.

Bradford were relegated to the fourth tier of English football for the first time in their history in the 1960/1961 season. Things got worse for Bradford City in the 1962/1963 season, when the club had to be re-elected to the Football League after finishing second from bottom of the Fourth Division.

The end of the 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s Bradford City found themselves yo-yoing between the Third and Fourth Divisions. The club were promoted to the Third Division in the 1968/1969 season, but their stay in the third tier lasted just three seasons before a bottom place finish saw them relegated. Five seasons later, Bradford City earned promotion once more, but their stay in the Third Division was even shorter, immediately relegated in their first season back in the third tier.

The club remained in the Fourth Division until winning promotion during the 1981/1982 season. Roy McFarland had taken over, but after leading the club to promotion left for the manager’s position at Derby County and was replaced with Trevor Cherry. The club had a close call with relegation, but survived in the Third Division. However, serious financial issues had hit the club, and Bradford City only stayed in existence thanks to Stafford Heginbotham and Jack Tordoff, the club’s previous chairman and board member.

Bradford City won the Third Division title in the 1984/1985 season. However, 1985 also marked a tragic event in English football when 56 people died after Valley Parade, the Bradford City stadium, caught fire.

The ground was rebuilt, but after opening manager Trevor Cherry was fired and replaced with Terry Dolan. A close call with promotion one season was followed with relegation two years later, and the club found itself back in the Third Division.

In 1992, following the introduction of the Premier League, the Football League divisions were renamed. As such, the Second Division became Division One, the Third Division became Division Two and the Fourth Division, Division Three. Bradford City started the 1992/1993 season in Division Two.

Two years later, Geoffrey Richmond took over the club. Richmond paid off all of Bradford City’s debts, and soon enough the club found themselves in Division One following Chris Kamara leading the club to a play-off victory over Notts County.

The club struggled, but managed to avoid relegation with a final day win. Following a bad start to the 1997/1998 season, Kamara was replaced by Paul Jewell who led the club to a second place finish and with it promotion to the Premier League.

Despite being favourites to be immediately relegated, Bradford City kept their Premier League place with another final day victory. Paul Jewell then left the club and his replacements, first Chris Hutchings and then Jim Jeffries, couldn’t save the club from the drop the following season.

Financial worries hit the club once again, and Bradford City went into administration. This was followed by a further spell in administration two years later, along with another relegation. Bradford City’s woes continued in the 2006/2007 season, when they suffered their third relegation in seven years when they were demoted to the fourth tier, which had been renamed League Two.

In 2013, Bradford City became the first ever fourth tier side to reach a major Cup Final held at Wembley. Bradford had reached the League Cup Final, but were beaten 5-0 by Swansea City.

Two months later the club appeared at Wembley again, this time in the League Two play off final where they beat Northampton Town to earn promotion to League One.

Two seasons later, Bradford City embarked on another good cup run, this time in the FA Cup. The club famously came back from 2-0 down away at Chelsea to win 4-2 in a run that eventually led them to the FA Cup quarter finals.

The 2018/2019 season sees Bradford City take part in their sixth consecutive League One campaign.

Crest

The current Bradford City crest is an amalgamation of previous Bradford City football badges. Bradford City first used the Bradford coat of arms on their kits. In 1974, a new Bradford City football crest was introduced. This new badge featured a boar’s head above a shield containing the letters BC.

In 1981, the bantam was reintroduced on the crest. The club’s current crest features a bantam on top of a shield featuring the claret and amber Bradford City colours with the club’s initials incorporated into it. Below the shield is a banner that contains the club’s nickname, the Bantams.

Colours

The Bradford City colours were originally taken from Manningham F.C. The club have worn these colours since they were founded, though in a variety of styles. Black, white, claret and amber have all been used as shorts and socks colours since the club was formed.

The club have generally played in claret and amber stripes. However, for many periods, this style has changed. From 1907 to 1915, Bradford City played in claret shirts with an amber collar and amber trim. The stripes were reintroduced in the season following the ending of the Second World War, and alternated with the claret shirts until 1959.

In 1959, amber became the primary Bradford City colour, with the shirts featuring a small claret trim but worn with claret shorts. The stripes were once again reintroduced for the 1965 season.

From 1974 to 1983, the club wore an all white kit, though sometimes featuring claret shorts, with a claret and amber trim.

Since 1988, the club have consistently worn claret and amber, but in varying styles. The traditional Bradford City shirt features claret and blue stripes, but on occasion the club have worn half claret half amber shirts, claret and amber checked shirts or claret shirts with an amber trim.

The Bradford City 2018/2019 kit features a claret shirt with black sleeves and an amber trim, worn with claret shorts and claret socks with an amber trim.

Bradford City Stadium

The Bradford City stadium is Valley Parade, also known as the Northern Commercials Stadium. Since the club was formed, all of Bradford City’s home games have been played at Valley Parade, apart from after the terrible events of 1985 when they club played at Odsal Stadium, Elland Road and Leeds Road while the ground was redeveloped.

The current Bradford City stadium layout features five main stands. The largest is the JCT600 Stand, which houses just over 9000 fans. The Kop is the second largest, with 7,492 seats. The Midland Road Stand houses 4500 fans, followed by the North West Corner, which has a capacity of 2300. The smallest stand is the TL Dallas Stand which has a capacity of around 1840.

The Bradford City stadium has undergone various reconstructions since the club moved in, and it now has a capacity of 25.136.

The ground is owned by the Gordon Gibb pension fund, following Bradford City’s administration in 2005.

The club have won admirers for their approach to season ticket prices, being amongst the lowest in all top four divisions. This scheme led to Bradford City winning the Best Fan Marketing campaign award at the Football League awards in 2008.

Bradford City supporters enjoy a rivalry with West Yorkshire rivals Leeds United and Huddersfield Town. There was also a Bradford derby, against Bradford Park Avenue, and another against the now closed club Halifax Town.

Ownership

The Bradford City owners are Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp. Rahic and Rupp took over the club in the summer of 2016.

Edin Rahic is also the Bradford City chairman. Rahin and Rupp took the club from joint chairman Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn.

Rhodes had played a major part in twice saving Bradford City’s existence after the club fell into administration, along with Gordon Gibb. Mark Lawn first became part of the club in 2007, taking the role of joint chairman after paying off the club’s debts.

Stats

Bradford City stats begin with the club’s all time record appearance maker. Ces Podd holds that record after making 502 appearances for the club between 1970 and 1984. Three players have made over 400 appearances for Bradford City, these being Ian Cooper, who made 443 appearances between 1965 and 1977; John Hall who played in 430 games from 1962 and 1974; and Bruce Stowell who made 401 appearances between 1960 and 1972.

The Bradford City all time record goalscorer is Bobby Campbell. Campbell scored 121 goals for the club in 274 appearances across two spells at Bradford City, firstly from 1979 to 1983, and then returning to the club a few months later and playing for Bradford from 1983 to 1986.

Bradford City’s record transfer signing is David Hopkin. Hopkin cost the club £2.5 million from Leeds United in 2000. The highest transfer fee Bradford City have ever received is £2 million. This fee was received on two occasions, and both times from Newcastle United. Newcastle bought Des Hamilton in 1997 and Andy O’Brien in 2001.

Bradford City’s record victory came in 1928 when they beat Rotherham United in the Third Division North 11-1. Bradford scored 11 goals in a match again nine years later, with an 11-3 win against Walker Celtic in the FA Cup.

Bradford have been beaten by eight goals twice in their history. Firstly, in 1927 they were beaten 8-0 by Manchester city in the Second Division and in 1961 they were beaten 9-1 by Colchester United in the Fourth Division.

Bradford City Players

The current Bradford City players list consists of 28 first team members, backed up by players in the Bradford City Development Squad.

The current Bradford City player of the year is Matthew Kilgallon. Kilgallon won the Fans' Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year, amongst other awards.

Notable ex Bradford City players include many of those listed as the the Legends of Bradford City. These include Dean Windass, David Wetherall, Bruce Stowell, Dean Richards, Ces Podd, Bobby Campbell and David McNiven.

Bradford City Manager

The current Bradford City manager is David Hopkin. Hopkin took over in September 2018, becoming the fifth man in a year to take the reigns.

The most successful Bradford City manager is arguably Peter O’Rourke. O’Rourke won the Second Division championship in 1908, and also led the club to their first, and so far only, FA Cup win in 1911. O’Rourke is also Bradford City’s longest serving manager, taking control of 497 matches from 1905 to 1921.

In terms of win percentage, Roy McFarland has the highest in Bradford city manager history. McFarland won 35 of his 64 games in charge, giving him a win percentage of 54.7%.

Honours

The Bradford City honours list consists of one FA Cup (1911); one League Cup runner-up place (2013); one second tier title (1908); one third tier title (1985); one third tier play off win(1996); one fourth tier play off win (2013); and one Third Division North Challenge Cup win (1939).

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